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The official organ of the Victorian Race Walking Club2015/2016 Number 51 27 September 2016

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Address: RUNNERS WORLD, 598 High Street, East Kew, Victoria (Melways 45 G4)Telephone: 03 9817 3503 Hours: Monday to Friday: 9:30am to 5:30pm

Saturday: 9:00am to 3:00pm Website: http://www.runnersworld.com.auFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Runners-World/235649459888840

ANOTHER YEAR DONE AND DUSTED

As our VRWC financial year comes to a close, I can report another action packed year of newsletters, with 51 in total. Alas, I finallymissed an issue in early August as I was lost in the wilds of Peru, so my run of some 8 years of weekly newsletters came to a halt.Overall, the number of pages produced this year was about 15% bigger than in any previous year and I think I averaged around 20pages per issue.

I must start this issue by acknowledging all those people who feed results to me regularly. On the Australian front, thanks to SarahBrennan, Kerrie Peart and Paul Rance (VIC), Colin Hainsworth (SA), Robin Whyte (ACT) and Terry Jones (WA). Internationally,thanks to Emmanuel Tardi (FRA), Mark Wall and Ron Wallwork (GBR) and the many others who let me know the latest news. Andapologies if I missed anyone. The old brain cells sometimes get a bit overworked! I am also indebted to the writers behindhttp://www.marciadalmondo.com/ and http://omarchador.blogspot.com.au/ for the many results and race reports that they regularlyproduce. In our own way, we all work to ensure that you, the reader, have the latest racewalking news in a timely manner.

That said, here we go again with this week’s issue!

WALKER OF THE WEEK

24 year old VRWC walker Regan Lamble has gone on to even greater deeds after her 9 th place in the women’s 20km walk at Rio.This week she has been racing in China in the 4 day Around Lake Taihu Walk Classic, and sits in second place overall after 2days, only 1 second behind the Chinese leader. On Sunday, she finished second overall in the initial 20km leg and then on Mondayshe finished 4th in the second leg, contested over 10km. Both races were held in very hot and humid conditions and she showed thatshe was up to the task, taking some big scalps along the way. She is therefore my Walker of the Week this time around.

Regan (left) on the podium in Taihu after Day One

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Both she and Dane Bird-Smith sit in second place overall at the half way mark. With further races today and tomorrow, can theymaintain their high placings. I excitedly wait for next week’s newsletter to reveal all.

WHAT'S COMING UP

• Now that our VRWC winter season is done and dusted, Victorian walkers have the chance for a good rest until AV Shieldcommences on Saturday 8 October. We will have our VRWC summer season fixture out soon but I can reveal that ourfirst VRWC summer season races will be held at Middle Park on Sunday 9 October. Victorian walkers can check out theAV summer calendar at http://athsvic.org.au/wp-content/uploads/Summer-Calendar-2016-17-3.pdf.

• Looking further ahead, AA, AV and VRWC will be conducting a Walk Judging Seminar on Saturday 10th December2016 in Melbourne. The Seminar is open to those interested in becoming Walk Judges and for existing Judges to upgrade. Details as follows

Venue: Blackmans Hotel, St Kilda Rd, MelbourneDate: Saturday 10th December, 20169.00am: Registration9.30am-12.00pm: General seminar for level 1-3 with Bob Cruise and Zoe Eastwood-Bryson12.00pm-1.00pm: Lunch1.00pm: Exams (bring a laptop)No late or on the day applicationsContact Diane Lowden for an application form (dilowden@virginbroadband.com.au)Registrations close with Diane on 25th November 2016

• A further reminder that registrations are now open for our annual VRWC Falls Creek Summer Racewalk Camp. It willrun from Friday 30th December 2016 to Thursday 12th January 2017. See http://www.vrwc.org.au/vrwc-fallscreek.shtml forfurther details.

We also have a few major events happening this week

• The Australian University Games are currently being held in Perth, with 5000m track championships for men and womento be held tomorrow (see http://www.australianunigames.com.au/sports/athletics).

• The 4th annual Around Lake Taihu 4 Day Racewalk continues today and tomorrow, with Regan Lamble, Dane Bird-Smith, Jared Tallent and Adam Garganis in action.

QMA TRACK RACES, QUEENSLAND, 24-25 SEPTEMBER

Our Queensland Masters were the only ones in action locally this week, with walks in Brisbane on Saturday and on the Gold Coaston Sunday.

QMA Track Races, QSAC, Brisbane, Saturdeay 24 SeptemberFirst to Brisbane on Saturday when 5 walkers contested a track 5000m.

QMA 5000m WalkM50 1 Ignacio Jimenez M51 Brisbane 24:53.48 82.38%M60 1 Peter Bennett M60 Brisbane 25:49.83 86.85%W70 1 Noela McKinven W74 Brisbane 39:54.20 70.62%M85 - Russell Grigg M89 Brisbane DNFW85 1 Christiane Dauphinet W85 Brisbane 40:36.35 91.73%

QMA Track Races, Gold Coast, Sunday 25 SeptemberOnly 2 Queensland Masters walkers in action on the Gold Coast on Sunday, by the look of things.

QMA 3000m WalkW60 1 Robyn Wales W64 GC & Sthrn 26:50.38 53.55%

QMA 5000m WalkM45 1 Dean Nipperess M45 GC & Sthrn 25:55.95 75.87%

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AROUND LAKE TAIHU 4 DAY RACEWALK, CHINA, 25-28 SEPTEMBER

With plenty of prize money on offer for individuals and teams, The Around Lake Taihu 4 Day Walks carnival normally attracts manyof the top walkers from aorund the world and this year was no exception. Day 1 of the classic on Sunday morning saw a 20kmdistance contested, over a single loop of 10km out and back. Although the start was at 9:15AM, the temperature was already high andhad risen past 30°C by race completion. Hence times were generally slow. But as always the cream does gravitate to the top. Theracing was well reported by marciadalmondo (see http://www.marciadalmondo.com/eng/dettagli_news.aspx?id=2563). Full results athttp://www.marciadalmondo.com/admin/pdf/risultati/25092016618Day1_full.pdf.

Men's 20km Race Walk (Day 1), Sunday 25 SeptemberThe men's race saw a large group for the first 5km and it was not until the half way mark that a lead group of 10 had finally brokenfree. The judges were busy with the special race rules - no penalty to the first red card, a 60 sec penalty Pit Lane stop for the secondred, a further 60 sec Pit Lane stop for the third red and then disqualification on the fourth red. By the 12km mark, the lead pack hadbeen reduced to 4 - Lebogang Shange (RSA), Dane Bird-Smith (AUS), Perseus Karlstrom (SWE) and Eider Arevalo (COL), andthey were followed by another group with Yu Wei (CHN), Bian Tongda (CHN), Andres Chocho (ECU), Caio Bonfim (BRA) andFederico Tontodonati (ITA). In the last 5km, various walkers tried to break free but it was eventually Karlstrom and Bird-Smith whobroke free, taking the first two places ahead of Aravelo. When Shange was stopped at the final Pit Lane point for 60 secs, Tontodonatiwas able to come through for fourth place. Jared Tallent and Adam Garganis were also in action, finishing 11th and 46th

respectively.

1. Perseus Karlstrm SWE 1:24:272. Dane-Bird Smith AUS 1:24:503. Eider Arevalo COL 1:25:024. Federico Tontodonati ITA 1:26:435. Tongda Bian CHN 1:27:546. Lebogang Shange RSA 1:28:067. Andrés Chocho ECU 1:28:128. Caio Bonfim BRA 1:28:399. Georgiy Sheiko KAZ 1:29:0310. NIU Wenbin YNN 1:29:1411. Jared Tallent AUS 1:29:1612. Sergii Budza UKR 1:29:1813. Jakub Jelonek POL 1:29:2714. GAO Wenkui MON 1:29:3415. Marius Ziukas LTU 1:29:4016. Ivan Losev UKR 1:29:5117. Brendan Boyce IRL 1:30:0118. Igor Glavan UKR 1:30:0919. Ruslan Dmytrenko UKR 1:30:1820. YAN Luqiang JSU 1:30:2921. Dawid Tomala POL 1:30:4522. Evan Dunfee CAN 1:30:4923. YIN Jiaxing YNN 1:31:5824. Wei Yu CHN 1:32:1325. Anders Hansson SWE 1:32:3026. Alexey Kazanin UKR 1:32:4227. Rui Wang CHN 1:33:0428. Rafal Augustyn POL 1:33:0829. Aliaksandr Liakhovich BLR 1:33:1130. Nazar Kovalenko UKR 1:33:3031. Anatole Ibanez SWE 1:33:3632. Artur Brzozowski POL 1:34:1133. JIE Jinzhu MON 1:34:2234. Ever Palma MEX 1:34:4635. Ivan Banzeruk UKR 1:34:5936. XIE Sichao MON 1:35:0237. Havard Haukenes NOR 1:35:5138. NING Peng JGX 1:36:0639. TANG Yifan JSU 1:36:1040. Andrii Hrechkovskyi UKR 1:36:2141. Yohann Diniz FRA 1:36:5242. YU Dian JSU 1:37:1343. ZHANG Rongjin YNN 1:37:3744. ZHU Guowen YNN 1:38:2645. Tadas Suskevicius LTU 1:38:3246. Adam Garganis AUS 1:38:33

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47. HUANG Jun JGX 1:39:4448. Marc Mundell RSA 1:40:2849. YANG Kai JSU 1:41:4750. Alex Wright IRL 1:42:0251. Quentin Rew NZL 1:42:2052. Wayne Snyman RSA 1:42:2153. Andriy Kovenko UKR 1:42:3954. HUANG Haofeng JSU 1:42:4455. SU Xianzheng YNN 1:42:4556. 1 Sandor Racz HUN 1:43:3757. MA Youshan MON 1:43:5058. ZHANG Saiyi JGX 1:44:0959. CI Wangduoji TBT 1:44:3760. HU Tao JGX 1:45:0761. GA Sang TBT 1:45:2362. LIU Zedong JSU 1:46:5963. ZHAO Ziyang MON 1:47:0864. NI Mazhujie TBT 1:47:2965. YI Xiciwang TBT 1:48:1766. Tiago Fonseca BRA 1:51:3867. QIONG Da TBT 1:54:53

Dzianis Simanovich BLR DNFDONG Xiaomin JGX DNFZelin Cai CHN DNF

Teams Men (Day 1)1. The Gringos 4:21:18 Karlström, Chocho, Bonfim, Palma2. Extreme Beef 4:26:44 Bird-Smith, Arevalo, Yohann Diniz, Snyman3. Bel-Ka 4:31:32 Sheiko, Budza, Ukraine, Liakhovich, Simanovich

IAAF Racewalking Committee chairman Maurizio Damilano presents cheques to the men’s podium after Day 1 Dane Bird-Smith in second place

Women's 20km Race Walk (Day1), Sunday 25 SeptemberThe women's race saw an early lead to Qieyang Shijie (CHN) ahead of Regan Lamble (AUS), Beatriz Pasqual (ESP) and NieJingjing (CHN). By the halfway mark, the leading 4 had come together in the lead but the group soon broke up again as Jingjingforced the break, going on to win. A late 60 sec pit stop for Beatriz Pascual ensured that Lamble took second place while Pascualcame in third ahead of early leader Shijie who was relegated to fourth.

1. Jingjing Nie CHN 1:33:302. Regan Lamble AUS 1:34:213. Beatriz Pascual ESP 1:35:584. Shijie Qieyang CHN 1:36:04

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5. Sandra Lorena Arenas COL 1:36:476. WANG Yingliu YNN 1:36:537. Erica de Sena BRA 1:37:088. Nadiia Borovska UKR 1:37:229. Ana Cabecinha POR 1:39:0810. Viktoria Madarasz HUN 1:39:0811. Lijuan Xie CHN 1:40:1412. Alana Barber NZL 1:40:2913. Agnieshka Szwarnog POL 1:40:4614. Inna Kashyna UKR 1:40:5815. Brigita Virbalyte LTU 1:41:1916. Yanxue Mao CHN 1:41:4217. Tamara Havrylyuk UKR 1:42:4018. Faying Ma CHN 1:44:4419. ZHAO Qianyuan YNN 1:44:4920. Anett Torma HUN 1:44:5221. QUE Yumei YNN 1:45:0622. Katarzyna Golba POL 1:45:1423. Ainhoa Pinedo ESP 1:45:2024. Diana Aidosova KAZ 1:45:2425. XUE Ke 1:46:1726. LI Qiuye YNN 1:46:4827. CHEN Yumin JGX 1:47:5828. JI Yefang 1:48:1729. Polina Repina KAZ 1:48:5130. WANG Dan JGX 1:50:1131. ??? JSU 1994. 1:51:1632. ZHANG Lifang YNN 1:52:1333. ZHANG Yidan JSU 1:53:4834. Alina Tsviii UKR 1:55:0735. ZHOU Tao JGX 1:56:2836. Elianay Pereira BRA 2:02:1437. Liliane Priscila Barbosa BRA 2:11:0138. XU Jiangqi JGX 2:18:25

Nastassia Yatsevich BLR DNFYANG Weiwei JSU DNFXIAO Xiaoting JGX DNF

Teams Women (Day 1)1. China 4:49:48 Nie, Qieyang, Xie, Ma2. Angels 4:50:16 Lamble, Lorraine, Madarasz, Barber, Virbalyte3. Inter BPS 4:52:14 Pascual, Sena, Cabecinha

Day 1 Womens podium – Regan Lamble gets second place

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The second day of the classic "Around Lake Taihu" took place in the centre of the host city of Mudu, on a lap course of 10 km. Onceagain, the start time was set for 9:30AM and once again, the day was hot and humid. Thank goodness for marciadalmondo who is thefirst as usual to report on the day's proceedings (see http://www.marciadalmondo.com/eng/dettagli_news.aspx?id=2564). Full raceresults at http://www.marciadalmondo.com/admin/pdf/risultati/2609201642Full_2nd_dai_Taihu.pdf

Men’s 10km Race Walk (Day 2), Monday 26 September Olympic champion Wang Zhen was a starter in Day 2 of the classic, but it was obvious that he was not a serious contender as he wascontent to stroll through the first few kms and was an eventual DNF. Yohann Diniz (FRA) made the pace early in the lead groupbefore Federico Tontodonati (ITA) took over as pacemaker. By the 6km mark, a leading group of Lebogang Shange (RSA), DaneBird-Smith (AUS), Andres Chocho (ECU), Perseus Karlstrom (SWE), Eider Arevalo (COL) and Bian Tongda (CHN) has nowsorted itself out. Eventually it came down to a race in three, with Arevalo clear ahead of Chocho (ECU) and then a gap to Bird-Smith.Alas, Choco was waved down into the Pit Lane area, clearing the way for an Arevalo win. Further down in the field, our other Aussies both finished with Jared Tallent 16th and Adam Garganis 54th.

1. Eider Arevalo COL 39:53 2. Dane-Bird Smith AUS 40:11 3. Tongda Bian CHN 40:48 4. Lebogang Shange RSA 40:57 5. Perseus Karlstrm SWE 40:59 6. Igor Glavan UKR 41:03 7. GAO Wenkui MON 41:14 8. Evan Dunfee CAN 41:17 9. NIU Wenbin YNN 41:19 10. Caio Bonfim BRA 41:29 11. Federico Tontodonati ITA 41:30 12. Sergii Budza UKR 41:40 13. YAN Luqiang JSU 41:48 14. Aliaksandr Liakhovich BLR 42:02 15. Marius Ziukas LTU 42:10 16. Jared Tallent AUS 42:14 17. Ruslan Dmytrenko UKR 42:22 18. Rui Wang CHN 42:29 19. Brendan Boyce IRL 42:32 20. JIE Jinzhu MON 42:35 21. Georgiy Sheiko KAZ 42:36 22. Ever Palma MEX 42:38 23. Anders Hansson SWE 42:40 24. Ivan Banzeruk UKR 43:00 25. XIE Sichao MON 43:25 26. Andrii Hrechkovskyi UKR 43:27 27. Alexey Kazanin UKR 43:33 28. Rafal Augustyn POL 43:35 29. Wei Yu CHN 43:44 30. Andrés Chocho ECU 43:54 31. Jakub Jelonek POL 43:55 32. Andriy Kovenko UKR 44:00 33. Anatole Ibanez SWE 44:00 34. YU Dian JSU 44:04 35. Ivan Losev UKR 44:16 36. Liga Bai CHN 44:18 37. Havard Haukenes NOR 44:22 38. NING Peng JGX 44:26 39. Wayne Snyman RSA 44:28 40. ZHANG Rongjin YNN 44:35 41. YANG Kai JSU 44:43 42. Quentin Rew NZL 44:51 43. Nazar Kovalenko UKR 44:58 44. HUANG Haofeng JSU 45:03 45. Yohann Diniz FRA 45:04 46. TANG Yifan JSU 45:17 47. Tadas Suskevicius LTU 45:33 48. YIN Jiaxing YNN 45:34 49. DONG Xiaomin JGX 45:54 50. LIU Zedong JSU 46:00 51. Marc Mundell RSA 46:07 52. SU Xianzheng YNN 46:18

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53. Dawid Tomala POL 46:49 54. Adam Garganis AUS 47:25 55. ZHU Guowen YNN 47:41 56. HUANG Jun JGX 48:04 57. ZHANG Saiyi JGX 48:31 58. Sandor Racz HUN 48:37 59. Artur Brzozowski POL 49:50 60. YI Xiciwang TBT 51:59 61. NI Mazhujie TBT 52:40 62. Tiago Fonseca BRA 53:05 63. GA Sang TBT 53:59 64. CI Wangduoji TBT 54:38 65. QIONG Da TBT 56:18 66. MA Youshan MON 57:24

Zhen Wang CHN DNF Dzianis Simanovich BLR DNF ZHANG Mingkai MON DQ

Overall Standings after 2 Days (First 16)After the first 2 days, only a few seconds separates Eider Arevalo and Dane Bird-Smith. After coming 2nd in 2014 and 2015, can Danedo one better this time around and take overall honours. Two days to go!

1. Eider Arevalo COL 2:04:552. Dane-Bird Smith AUS 2:05:013. Perseus Karlstrm SWE 2:05:264. Federico Tontodonati ITA 2:08:135. Tongda Bian CHN 2:08:426. Lebogang Shange RSA 2:09:037. Caio Bonfim BRA 2:10:088. NIU Wenbin YNN 2:10:339. GAO Wenkui MON 2:10:4810. Sergii Budza UKR 2:10:5811. Igor Glavan UKR 2:11:1212. Jared Tallent AUS 2:11:3013. Georgiy Sheiko KAZ 2:11:3914. Marius Ziukas LTU 2:11:5015. Andrés Chocho ECU 2:12:0616. Evan Dunfee CAN 2:12:06

Dane Bird-Smith on the podium again after Day 2

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Women’s 10km Race Walk (Day 2), Monday 26 September In the women's race, a lead group of Qieyang Shijie (CHN), Erica de Sena (BRA), Regan Lamble (AUS), Beatriz Pasqual (ESP)and Nie Jingjing (CHN) quickly formed, a few metres clear of Sandra Lorena Arenas (COL) and Nadia Borovska (UKR). Aroundthe 7.5km mark, Qieyang Shijie (CHN), definitely feeling better than Sunday, made the vital surge, with only de Sena (BRA) able togo with her. By 8km, places were settled as Shijie had what turned out to be a winning break, de Send coming second and Pascualthird, just ahead of Lamble.

1. Shijie Qieyang CHN 44:07 2. Erica de Sena BRA 44:35 3. Beatriz Pascual ESP 44:46 4. Regan Lamble AUS 44:48 5. Sandra Lorena Arenas COL 45:22 6. WANG Yingliu YNN 45:26 7. Jingjing Nie CHN 45:38 8. Nadiia Borovska UKR 45:42 9. LI Leilei TJN 45:56 10. Ana Cabecinha POR 46:03 11. Brigita Virbalyte LTU 46:10 12. Viktoria Madarasz HUN 46:28 13. Yanxue Mao CHN 46:41 14. Inna Kashyna UKR 46:44 15. Agnieshka Szwarnog POL 46:49 16. Tamara Havrylyuk UKR 47:03 17. Lijuan Xie CHN 47:38 18. Faying Ma CHN 47:46 19. XUE Ke 48:0320. ZHANG Lifang YNN 48:38 21. Ainhoa Pinedo ESP 48:40 22. Katarzyna Golba POL 48:49 23. Alina Tsviii UKR 48:59 24. QUE Yumei YNN 49:03 25. XIAO Xiaoting JGX 49:31 26. ZHAO Qianyuan YNN 49:57 27. CHEN Yumin JGX 49:57 28. ? JSU 49:58 29. Polina Repina KAZ 50:15 30. Anett Torma HUN 50:41 31. Alana Barber NZL 50:56 32. MA Yiming 50:5833. XU Jiangqi JGX 51:39 34. Diana Aidosova KAZ 51:55 35. WANG Dan JGX 52:02 36. LI Qiuye YNN 53:32 37. JI Yefang 54:4138. Liliane Priscila Barbosa BRA 57:03 39. Elianay Pereira BRA 60:58 40. ZHANG Yidan JSU DNF 41. ZHOU Tao JGX DNF

Overall Standings after 2 Days (First 16)After 2 days, only 1 second separates Jingjing Nie and Regan Lamble. This is Regan’s first time in this competition and is she havinga big impact. Fingers crossed!

1. Jingjing Nie CHN 2:19:082. Regan Lamble AUS 2:19:093. Shijie Qieyang CHN 2:20:114. Beatriz Pascual ESP 2:20:445. Erica de Sena BRA 2:21:436. Sandra Lorena Arenas COL 2:22:097. WANG Yingliu YNN 2:22:198. Nadiia Borovska UKR 2:23:049. LI Leilei TJN 2:23:3610. Ana Cabecinha POR 2:25:1111. Viktoria Madarasz HUN 2:25:3612. Brigita Virbalyte LTU 2:27:2913. Agnieshka Szwarnog POL 2:27:3514. Inna Kashyna UKR 2:27:42

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15. Lijuan Xie CHN 2:27:5216. Yanxue Mao CHN 2:28:23

NOT JUST A WALK IN THE PARK 24 HOUR RACEWALK, OWEGA, NY, 24-25 SEPT

Erin and Dave Talcott should be justifiably proud of their efforts of last weekend, with the international 24 hour walking carnivalthey hosted in Owega, New York State. The race started at midday on Saturday and was held over a certified 1km loop, finishingexactly 24 hours later at midday on Sunday. The aim as always in such a race was to provide an opportunity for people to walk 100miles in 24 hours and become US Centurions. Only 80 people had accomplished that until last weekend and a big field of 25 was inattendance from around the world - 5 from Belgium, 2 from the Netherlands, 1 from Sweden, 1 from Australia, 2 from the Isle ofMan, and 1 from England.

The results were excellent with the top 8 walkers all reaching the 100 mile (160.934km) mark and 7 new US Centurions C81-87.Overall, Belgian walker Eddie Goeman walked brilliantly to reach the 100 mile mark first in 19:16:50, ahead of Swedish walkerChrister Svensson with 20:14:50 and Manxman Stewart Jones with 21:53.32. Caroline Mestdagh was the first of the ladies with22:46:28, Erin Taylor-Talcott was second in 23:31:05 and Sandra de Graaff was third in 23:45:12 (walking nearly the whole waywith Albertus van Ginkel as usual – Bertus finished about 3 mins behind her with 23:48:17). Belgian walker Luc Soeteway alsofinished the hundred, recording a time of 23:06:23. Alas, Australian centurion John Kilmartin suffered on the day and had to besatisfied with 92km.

For Erin, it was her first centurion finish in her 3 attempt (what a wonderful effort) but the other 7 finishers were all quiteexperienced. Caroline Mestdagh lead the group with 5 badges already. Eddie Goeman, Bertus van Ginkel and Sandra de Graff had 3badges already and won their 4th with their weekend walks. Christer Svensson won his third badge as did Luc Soeteway whileStewart Jones won his second.

Caroline Mestdagh 5 badges: English 1061 (2007), Continental 366 (2008), Australian 56 (2009), US 72 (2010), NZ 17 (2010)Eddie Goeman 4th badge: English 1086 (2011), Continental 381 (2010), Australian 60 (2012)Bertus van Ginkel 4th badge: English 1162 (2015), Continental 399 (2013), Australian 70 (2016)Sandra de Graaff 4th badge: English 1160 (2015), Continental 423 (2015), Australian 69 (2016)Christer Svensson 3rd badge: English 1110 (2013), Continental 375 (2009)Luc Soetewey 3rd badge: English 1105 (2012), Continental 331 (2005)Stewart Jones 2nd badge: English 1123 (2013)

Of the men, Christer Svensson had led early but lost his lead to a storming Eddie Goeman who recorded a huge PB in winning. Ofthe women, Erin Talcott lead for most of the race, eventually relinquishing her lead to Caroline Mestdagh after 135km. The overallresults read as follows

1. Eddy Goeman Belgium 19:16:50 New US Centurion #812. Christer Svensson Sweden 20:14:50 New US Centurion #823. Stewart Jones Isle of Man 21:53:52 New US Centurion #834. Caroline Mestdagh Belgium 22:46:28 US Centurion #72 (2010)5. Luc Soetewey Belgium 23:06:23 New US Centurion #846. Erin Taylor-Talcott USA 23:31:05 New US Centurion #857. Sandra de Graaff Netherlands 23:45:12 New US Centurion #868. Albertus van Ginkel Netherlands 23:48:17 New US Centurion #879. Paul Terbrack Michigan 153 km10. Bob Keating New Hampshire 122 km11. Willy Vermeulen Belgium 117 km12. James Bassett Isle of Man 107 km13. John Kilmartin Australia 92 km14. Sunyana Graef USA 89 km15. Patrick Bivona New Jersey 81 km16. Vince Mueller New Jersey 81 km17. Sailash Shah England 80 km18. Andy Cable USA 66 km19. Luc Dekeirsschieler Belgium 62 km20. Katie Smith Michigan 32 km21. Ron Salvio New Jersey 31 km22. James Lyons New York 28 km23. Kevin Nelson New York 20 km24. Jeanne Cooke New York 5 km

Lapsplits are available at http://my6.raceresult.com/61905/results?lang=en#0_D14072 https://www.facebook.com/NotJustAWalkInThePark/?fref=ts

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Alas, not much in the way of photos yet but a couple I found posted on facebook

Left: Erin Taylor-Talcott shows the strain as she passes the start/finish line – elapsed time 21:01:43 – not far to go nowRight: Sandra de Graaff and Bertus van Ginkel clock off their fourth centurion badges with tough performances

It takes a lot of people to ensure all goes well in this sort of event. Dave Talcott names a pretty impressive list:

We (Erin and I) would like to thank the Niagara Association for their great support of Race Walking and also their support ofthis event and the award as the Niagara Championships. There were tons of volunteers that made this event feasible - BoyScout Troop 38, Girl Scout Troops 40925 and 40234 who staffed the aid stations, the Village of Owego who did so much -they waived the fee to use the park, they excavated a path for us and paved it so that we could have a certified 1.0 km loop,they provided two light plants to aid in two corners that were a bit underlit, they opened the pool so that volunteers andathletes could change, shower and use warm bathroom facilities, they had a sweeper sweep the course the day before theevent, they had lights, power and water all on for us to use - they truly did so much to make the race a success. Thank you toJeanette and Bob Nichols for the use of their travel trailer for tired helpers to rest a bit. Also to the Nichols' as well as SharonGruttadauro, Diane Martin-Neira , Caroline Beckenhaupt, and Leslie McClelland for the use of their tents, chairs, and coolers.Thank you also to Amy Cooke and her son for providing first aid and also Dr. Tina Nagle for her chiropractic skills. Thankyou so much to Carol Miller for painting our great award paintings, to Larry Taylor for the USA wood cut-outs and to TonyGruttadauro for providing the great wooden backgrounds for the cut-outs. I am sure I am missing a few - but we are sograteful for all the help and support we received.

USATF Niagara 100km Championships The USATF Niagara 100km Championships were held in conjunction with the Not Just a Walk in the Park centurion event.

1. Eddy Goeman Belgium 11:40:082. Christer Svensson Sweden 12:01:433. Erin Taylor-Talcott USA 12:47:534. Stewart Jones Isle of Man 12:57:005. Caroline Mestdagh Belgium 13:36:106. Luc Soetewey Belgium 13:43:407. Paul Terbrack USA 13:45:368. James Bassett Isle of Man 14:13:019. Albertus van Ginkel Netherlands 14:26:4910. Sandra Irene de Graaff Netherlands 14:26:5111. Bob Keating USA 15:04:1812. Wily Vermeulen Belgium 17:13:37

With the 2016 New Zealand Centurions 24H Qualifier in Aucklandnext weekend and with the inaugural African Centurion 24Hour Walk to be held on Robben Island, South Africa on 22-23 October, there is plenty more centurion action to come this year.

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U18/U20 FRENCH REGIONAL INTERCLUB, SAINT LOUIS, FRANCE, SUNDAY 25 SEPTEMBER

Thanks to Emmanuel Tardi who tells me that David Kuster has beaten the U18 5000m French record with a time of 20:58.45, donein a race in St Louis, near the France-Germany-Switzerland border. This comes 2 weeks after beating the U18 10,000m record. Theprevious French Cadet record was held by Gabriel Brodier (Saran, Oct 19 2014, 21:23.9).

U18/U20 5000m Walk1. KUSTER David Csl Neuf-brisach CAM/99 20'58''452. CHRETIEN Nathalie Es Thaon VEF/66 27'43''813. SIEGENFUHR Daniel Es Thaon VEM/50 28'30''154. BEN EL KEBIR Hafid Csl Neuf-brisach SEM/87 29'35''035. FRETE Jacques Fc Guebwiller VEM/57 29'55''256. HALLOY Nathalie Us Pulversheim VEF/67 30'10''39

COSTILLE Thomas Doubs Sud Athletisme JUM/98 DQ

David Custer in action in Saint Louis

Video: https://youtu.be/Wn6exWvxx0o More pictures: https://www.facebook.com/David-Kuster-1682207535393548/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1783480948599539

SVK-CRO-CZE-HUN-SLO U16 MATCH, TRNAVA , SLOVAKIA, SATURDAY 24 SEPTEMBER

The annual SVK-CRO-CZE-HUN-SLO U16 T&F match in Trnava saw only small fields in the 3000m walks. Wins to SlovakianLubomir Kubis (13:23.29) and Croatian Eli Pevec (15:15.87). Race video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_-YqsPRZQw.

Men 3000m Race Walk1. Lubomir KUBIŠ SVK 01 13:23.292. Bruno ROŽMAN CRO 01 13:24.953. Dávid VARGA HUN 01 14:08.72

Vencel GÁL HUN 01 DQ

Women 3000m Race Walk1. Eli PEVEC CRO 01 15:15.872. Petra ZAHORÁN HUN 02 15:21.503. Dominika HUBKOVÁ SVK 01 16:09.294. Tiziana SPILLER HUN 03 16:23.915. Karin DEVALDOVÁ SVK 03 16:36.10

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RACEWALK MEET, NEUILLY-SUR-MARNE, FRANCE, SUNDAY 25 SEPTEMBER

Emmanuel Tardi was in the Parisien suburb of Neuilly-Sur-Marne on Sunday for the 18 th edition of the Neuilly-Sur-Marne 20kmracewalk. There were 35 walkers in attendance for the 9:30AM start time, with Emmanuel the chief judge. After an initial 3 laps ofthe track, walkers left for a 1.250km road loop outside the stadium. Aurelien Quinion (PB 1:24.05) led the pack through 10km in42:12 but was then forced to slow, having already received 2 red cards. From then on, he played it safely, finishing in a very foodtiem of 1:26.27. In the women’s race, Marine Quenehen and Severine Lanoue leaded led throught the 10km mark together beforeMarine broke away and went on to wint the race in 1:48:48. and win the race. Elisabeth Simeon (W74) was the last finisher in atime of 2:34:59.

Aurelien Quinion, Benjamin Leaute and Benoit Berchebru

Marine Quennehen, Severine Lanoue and Elisabeth Simeon (photos Emmanuel Tardi)

20Km Walk1. QUINION Aurelien E Franconville CVO SEM/93 1:26:272. LEAUTE Benjamin Vafa SEM/88 1:39:483. BERCHEBRU Benoit Martigues Sports Athle SEM/84 1:40:334. QUENNEHEN Marine Ca Montreuil 93 SEF/91 1:48:485. GRENET Bruno Usm Gagny VEM/65 1:49:08

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6. LEGENTIL Cyril Dynamic Aulnay Club SEM/86 1:50:427. LEGENTIL Marc Dynamic Aulnay Club SEM/84 1:51:288. AUGER Alexis Ga Noisy Le Grand SEM/88 1:52:349. LEGENTIL Laurent Dynamic Aulnay Club SEM/88 1:53:5510. LANOUE Severine Rcf Issy Avia SEF/85 1:55:2311. OLIVARES Mathieu Neuilly Sur Marne Athlé VEM/76 1:55:5312. COTTEVIEILLE Maxime Ca Montreuil 93 SEM/90 1:57:0113. MURAT Alex Asfi Villejuif VEM/58 1:57:4414. BOLLINGER Vincent Dynamic Aulnay Club SEM/84 1:58:5515. BERGEAL Arthur Elan 91 SEM/84 2:02:5216. MARIE Frederic Ouest Yvelines Athlé VEM/61 2:03:5917. LEMOGNE Loic C.c. Taverny Athlé VEM/55 2:05:1518. MARQUIS Cecile Rcf Issy Avia VEF/71 2:05:3319. GIRAULT Marie Ea Cergy Pontoise Athlé SEF/88 2:10:2220. CHATEAU Xavier Uai Nogent-sur-marne VEM/63 2:11:1121. STEINVILLE Nathalie Asfi Villejuif VEF/64 2:12:4722. SIMEONI Bruno Entente Oise Athletisme VEM/59 2:13:2723. DIEN Daniel Neuilly Sur Marne Athlé VEM/50 2:16:2724. LANGLOIS Cloe Dynamic Aulnay Club JUF/97 2:16:4825. LEMOGNE Jocelyne C.c. Taverny Athletisme VEF/54 2:17:2426. BRUNEAUX Jean-claude Coulommiers Brie Athlé VEM/54 2:17:3727. BUISSON Dominique Saint-brice Athletisme VEM/57 2:18:2928. GALMICHE Catherine Cag Arnouville Gonesse VEF/57 2:18:5529. VICTOR Etienne Cag Arnouville Gonesse VEM/64 2:18:5630. CHOCHOY Christine Dynamic Aulnay Club VEF/68 2:20:1231. THOULE Floriane Dynamic Aulnay Club ESF/95 2:25:3932. CASELLI Pierre Nl VEM/53 2:25:4433. BIZARD Claudie Thiais Ac VEF/59 2:30:1334. SIMEON Elisabeth Paris Uc VEF/42 2:34:59

COURAGE Frederic Saint Denis Emotion VEM/69 AB

2016 ERWL ONE HOUR BADGE RACE, LVAC, LONDON, SATURDAY 24 SEPTEMBER

Thanks to Ron Wallwork for the latest Essex Race Walking League results.

In sunny, breezy conditions 29 walkers set about seeing how far they could cover in the Enfield Race Walking League 1 Hour Racelast Saturday in London. Making his first appearance of the year, Centurion Stuart Bennett, accompanied by his protégée Seb Parriswho was making his race walking debut, set the early pace which stretched out to 80m at one point. However Graham Chapman, justas he did in the previous race at the Allianz stadium, reeled off his laps at a consistent pace and picked the early leaders off as theyfaded to eventually win easily with just under 10km.

2016 ERWL 1 Hour Walk1. Graham Chapman Headington M60 9.987 km2. Seb Parris Ilford AC SM 9.730 km3. Cath Duhig © Ryston R W60 9.510 km4. Stuart Bennett © Ilford AC M55 9.509 km5. John Ralph Enfield HAC M55 9.493 km6. Helen Middleton Enfield HAC W50 9.392 km7. Gary Smith © Enfield HAC M55 9.356 km8. Maureen Noel Belgrave H W50 9.285 km9. Arthur Thomson Enfield HAC M80 9.262 km10. Joyce Crawford unattached W45 8.928 km11. Dan Maskell Surrey WC M65 8.848 km12. Melanie Peddles Loughton AC W45 8.833 km13. Anne Jones Steyning AC W60 8.799 km14. John Borgars © Loughton AC M65 8.746 km15. Sean Pender © Enfield HAC M60 8.730 km16. Fiona Bishop Woking AC W55 8.564 km17. Angela Martin Surrey WC W50 8.317 km18. Jo Miles Hillingdon AC W60 8.314 km19. Phil Goodwin Ilford AC M60 8.312 km20. Stephen Cartwright Colchester AC M55 8.228 km21. David Bowker RV Spartans M55 8.044 km22. Peter Cassidy Loughton AC M70 7.891 km23. Jon May Enfield HAC M60 7.654 km24. Fransciose Fernandez Loughton AC 7.640 km

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25. Sue Clements unattached 7.610 km26. Steve Whelan Headington M55 7.577 km27. Mick Barnbrook © Ilford AC M55 7.160 km28. Ken Livermore Enfield HAC M80 6.554 km29. Dave Ainsworth © Ilford AC M65 6.201 km

ITALIAN CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS, VARIOUS VENUES, ITALY, 24-25 SEPTEMBER

The Italian Club Championships were contested last weekend in a number of different cities. Some of the better results sets arereported below.

Italian Club Championships, Cinisello Balsamo, 24-25 SeptemberIn the most important of the finals, the Gold final in Cinisello Balsamo, victories in the two racewalks went to the favourites. In themen's 10,000m track walk, Francesco Fortunato won with 40:52.39, ahead of Leonardo Dei Tos 41:01.75 and Teodorico Caporaso43:59.06. In the women's 5000m, an easy win and a PB to Valentina Trapletti with 21:40.45, ahead of Nicole Colombi 22:28.37 andDiana Cacciotti 22:55.96. Also reported by marciadalmondo – http://www.marciadalmondo.com/eng/dettagli_news.aspx?id=2562.

Men 10,000m Race Walk1. Francesco FORTUNATO ITA 94 40:52.392. Leonardo DEI TOS ITA 92 41:01.753. Teodorico CAPORASO ITA 87 43:59.264. Jean Jacque NKOULOUKIDI ITA 82 44:58.405. Cesare COZZA ITA 97 44:59.596. Enrico LANG ITA 72 45:43.837. Marco MOROTTI ITA 97 46:13.268. Giuseppe MARCHISELLI ITA 91 51:33.40

Ivan MOBILIA ITA 91 DQ Niccolo' COPPINI ITA 97 DQ Michele AMOROSO ITA 93 DQ Stefano CHIESA ITA 96 DQ

Women 5000m Race Walk1. Valentina TRAPLETTI ITA 85 21:40.452. Nicole COLOMBI ITA 95 22:28.373. Diana CACCIOTTI ITA 95 22:55.964. Sibilla DI VINCENZO ITA 83 22:55.985. Eleonora DOMINICI ITA 96 23:51.506. Gladys MORETTI ITA 91 24:37.457. Ilaria GALLI ITA 87 24:48.028. Ilaria MARIOTTI ITA 91 24:59.099. Lisa CANI ITA 96 25:36.2610. Alice ROTA ITA 98 25:56.3611. Elena CINCA ITA 70 26:02.9712. Laura BORGHI ITA 99 26:22.11

Italian Club Championships, Agropoli, Italy, 25 September 2016A good 5000m win to Gianluca Picchiottino with 20:24.55 in Agropoli.

Men 5000m Race Walk1. Gianluca PICCHIOTTINO ITA 96 20:24.552. Stefano MANSUTTI ITA 95 21:06.083. Vincenzo MAGLIULO ITA 76 21:20.334. Nicolas FANELLI ITA 99 23:31.985. Davide PANNOFINO ITA 84 23:35.956. Andrea MERCALDO ITA 76 24:08.937. Andrea RAMPA ITA 84 24:29.74

Women 5000m Race Walk1. Annalisa RUSSO ITA 98 25:53.912. Alessia MASTRONICOLA ITA 00 26:01.343. Giulia PANCONI ITA 97 26:11.424. Grazia PUSILLICO ITA 00 26:37.635. Margherita FINOCCHIETTI ITA 99 26:48.846. Nicoletta DELL'AQUILA ITA 88 27:04.677. Desiree DI MARIA ITA 87 27:06.098. Maria Teresa VULPIS ITA 99 27:35.68

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9. Federica ANDREANI ITA 95 28:24.2810. Sara PERULLO ITA 99 28:39.75

Italian Club Championships, Orvieto, Italy, 24-25 SeptemberAnd one final set of results from Orvieto, with Giovanni Reno 20:57.34 and Giada Grancesca Ciabini 23:43.96.

Men 5000m Race Walk1. Giovanni RENO ITA 91 20:57.342. Ruggero D'ASCANIO ITA 84 21:53.573. Flavio VONA ITA 84 21:53.604. Diego CHIRIVI' ITA 99 22:03.815. Riccardo ORSONI ITA 00 22:48.416. Giacomo VIGANO' ITA 91 23:16.147. Giorgio FAVATI ITA 89 23:44.508. Edoardo GAGLIARDI ITA 99 23:52.079. Andrea ROMANELLI ITA 86 24:19.3410. Leonardo BALDACCHINI ITA 95 24:25.8411. Alberto CARELLA ITA 97 25:21.3912. Mario LAUDATO ITA 88 25:30.07

Fabio BARATTINI ITA 99 DQ

Women 5000m Race Walk1. Giada Francesca CIABINI ITA 97 23:43.962. Adelaide SANSONI ITA 82 23:48.223. Valeria PEDETTI ITA 73 24:55.354. Sascia GRAFEO ITA 92 24:57.265. Elisa RAIA ITA 78 25:43.286. Chiara VERTERAMO ITA 99 26:38.257. Giulia ALBERTI ITA 94 27:31.58

Maria Teresa CORTESI ITA 96 DQ

SOUTH AMERICAN U23 CHAMPIONSHIPS, LIMA, PERU, 23-25 SEPTEMBER

To Lima for track 20,000m walks in the South American U23 T&F Championships.

Men 20,000m Race Walk1. Ivan Gabriel GARRIDO COL 94 1:24:41.222. Kenny Martin PEREZ COL 94 1:25:18.003. Paolo Cesar YURIVILCA PER 96 1:25:18.134. Pablo RODRIGUEZ BOL 97 1:25:41.995. Cesar Augusto RODRIGUEZ PER 97 1:25:45.526. Rodrigo Javier ZEBALLOS PENA BOL 94 1:34:52.177. Max Batista DOS SANTOS BRA 94 1:35:50.62

Women 20,000m Race Walk1. Sara Patricia PULIDO COL 94 1:39:14.272. Leyde GUERRA PER 98 1:40:29.493. Odeth GHUANCA BOL 97 1:41:18.284. Karla JARAMILLO ECU 97 1:43:19.755. Karina FRANCINE BRA 96 2:02:47.15

MARCIADALMONDO AND OMARCHADOR ROUNDUP

Marciadalmondo had 7 press releases this week

• Mon 26 Sep – Results of Day 2 of the Around Lake Taihu Walk Racehttp://www.marciadalmondo.com/eng/dettagli_news.aspx?id=2564

• Sun 25 Sep - Karlstrom (SWE) and Nie (CHN) win first day of Around Lake Taihu Walk Racehttp://www.marciadalmondo.com/eng/dettagli_news.aspx?id=2563

• Sat 24 Sep - Fortunato and Trapletti win in Cinisello Balsamohttp://www.marciadalmondo.com/eng/dettagli_news.aspx?id=2562

• Sat 24 Sep - Teams for Around Lake Taihu 4 Day Race

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http://www.marciadalmondo.com/eng/dettagli_news.aspx?id=2561

• Tue 20 Sep - Results of the 27th Kanto University Championships in Sagamihara City (JPN)http://www.marciadalmondo.com/eng/dettagli_news.aspx?id=2560

• Tue 20 Sep - Provisional teams for Around Lake Taihu Walkhttp://www.marciadalmondo.com/eng/dettagli_news.aspx?id=2559

• Mon 19 Sep - Previewing the Around Lake Taihu Walkhttp://www.marciadalmondo.com/eng/dettagli_news.aspx?id=2558

and Omarchador had 9 press releases.

• Mon 26 Sep - Qieyang and Arevalo triumph on Day 2 of Lake Taihi Rallyhttp://omarchador.blogspot.com.au/2016/09/qieyang-e-arevalo-triunfam-no-2-dia-do.html

• Mon 26 Sep - Quinion and Quennehen win in Neuilly-sur-Marnehttp://omarchador.blogspot.com.au/2016/09/quinion-e-quennehen-com-vitorias-em.html

• Sun 25 Sep - Karlström and Nie win first stage of Around Lake Taihi Racehttp://omarchador.blogspot.com.au/2016/09/karlstrom-e-nie-vencem-primeira-etapa.html

• Sun 25 Sep - Results of International Masters Meet in Bellinzona, Switzerlandhttp://omarchador.blogspot.com.au/2016/09/meeting-internacional-master-em.html

• Sat 24 Sep - Results of Nordic Championships in Fredrikstadhttp://omarchador.blogspot.com.au/2016/09/fredrikstad-recebeu-campeonatos.html

• Fri 23 Sep - 5 Olympic medallists to race in Around Lake Taihu Racehttp://omarchador.blogspot.com.au/2016/09/5-medalhados-olimpicos-na-volta-ao-lago.html

• Thu 22 Sep - Results of Veterans Championships in Sarreguemines, Francehttp://omarchador.blogspot.com.au/2016/09/franca-belgica-e-alemanha-disputaram.html

• Wed 21 Sep - Around Lake Taihu Walk starts this Sunday http://omarchador.blogspot.com.au/2016/09/tour-da-china-arranca-este-sabado.html

• Tue 20 Sep - Lithuanians win in Lublin, Polandhttp://omarchador.blogspot.com.au/2016/09/lituanos-triunfam-em-lublin-polonia.html

OUT AND ABOUT

• Rome is set to drop its bid to host the Olympic Games in 2024, after its new mayor said it would be "irresponsible" to be acandidate. Boston and Hamburg have already dropped out of the running for the 2024 Games. Paris, Los Angeles andBudapest are still vying to host the Games. The remaining candidates must confirm their application and the endorsementof local public leaders by 7 October. See http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37432928.

• You will no doubt have read about the Russian hackers who have pinched huge amounts of athlete data from the WADAdatabase and who are releasing it in dribs and drabs. The data is all about the use of Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs),granted to athletes to allow them to take medications that would normally be banned. It seems huge numbers of our elitesportmen and sportswomen, from many varying disciplines such as tennis, athletics, cycling, etc, are really into this sort ofthing. One of those under big scrutiny at the moment is Tour de France winner Sir Bradley Wiggins who had threetherapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) for triamcinolone – a powerful corticosteroid – in the leadup to 3 big cycling events.The issues escalated on Monday when former top cyclist David Millar said he “could not fathom” how any doctor couldprescribe the drug to a rider about to compete in a race. Millar, who was banned from the sport for two years in 2004 afteradmitting to doping, told The Telegraph that Kenacort, one of the trade names for triamcinolone, was the “most potent”drug he used in his career, describing it as a huge performance enhancer and a dangerous one because of its “powerful,destructive” side effects. Wow, this is becoming a big issue. See http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cycling/2016/09/19/drugs-used-by-sir-bradley-wiggins-should-be-banned-says-david-mi/.

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VALE ROLAND HARDY 1926-2016

When 90 year old double Olympian Roland Hardy died in England last week, we lost an unwitting but key player in one of the mostunsavoury pieces of racewalking history which occurred when controversy over racewalking style came to a crisis in the 1950s andvirtually ended international track walking.

It started with the the 1950 European Championships in Brussels. Britain had two Sheffield walkers, Roland Hardy and LaurenceAllen, whose performances in Britain (Hardy had won the A.A.A. 2 and 7 miles in outstanding times and Allen was the RWA 10 and20 miles champion) made them strong prospects for medals. This they confirmed by establishing such a lead in the EuropeanChampionship 10,000m walk that it seemed they would not be caught. However, an old campaigner by the name of Fritz Schwab (theson of Switzerland’s Arthur Schwab, who won the 50km silver medal in 1936), raised what might charitably be termed a dashingfinish and reached the line first in a time of 46:01. When it was announced that the result had been referred to the Jury of Appeal,justice seemed about to be done. Yet to general amazement, Schwab's victory was confirmed, and Hardy and Allen were disqualified!The British team manager, Jack Crump, described it as 'the most atrociously unfair occurrence which I have ever known in more thantwenty years of first-class athletics'. In the protracted debate that followed, it was argued that the human eye was incapable of tellingwhether an 8mph walker was 'lifting'. Films and photographs were studied minutely; even Bobby Bridge from pre-World War I dayshad his reputation dented by the evidence.

To their credit, Hardy and Allen bounced back and continued to walk superbly in England and, more importantly, continued to satisfythe tough English judges. Hardy reduced the A.A.A. 2 miles best to 13:27.8 and the 7 miles to 50:05.6 and both walkers were dulyselected to compete in the 10,000m walk at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki. In fact, they went into the race as co-favourites.

Two heats were used to decide who of the 23 entrants would make the Olympic final. Bruno Junks of U.S.S.R, who was the fastestqualifier, won the first heat in 45:05, 5 seconds ahead of John Mikaelsson, the defending champion. His Swedish compatriot VernerHardmo still held the World Record at 42:39.6 but had now retired. Coleman of GBR won the second heat in a slower 46:12. ButHardy and Allen again incurred the displeasure of the judges, with Hardy one of 3 walkers disqualified in the first heat and Allen oneof two walkers disqualified in the second heat.

Roland Hardy leads the first of the two 1952 Olympic 10,000m walk heats from Australian Don Keane and Bruno Junk ofRussia. Eventual gold medallist John Mikaelsson of Sweden is fifth in this picture.

The final saw the 38 year old Mikaelsson win by over 100 yards in a new Olympic record time of 45:02.8 in impeccably fair style.But the final is better remembered for the tussle to decide the minor medals. Schwab, chasing second place, produced another of hisfleet-footed finishes, travelling at such speed that the Chief Judge had to run hard beside him to observe his style. Junk manfully metthe challenge, and the pair sprinted to a photo-finish which palpably showed both men running. Yet there was no disqualification.(As an aside, Junk’s gold medal was the first ever Russian Olympic walking medal and marked the start of the Eastern Europeandomination which has continued to the present day.)

The judges, who had disqualified seven men in the heats and final, were made to look foolish. Jack Crump, writing in the OfficialBritish Olympic Association Report for the 1952 Olympic Games, was scathing

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Once again, this race proved by far the most unsatisfactory of all the Olympic athletic events. Including the chief judge, G.Oberweger of Italy, there were nine judges, each from a different country. The standard of judging and the basis on whichdecisions were made to caution or disqualify competitors were made, was neither consistent nor impartial, and in both the heatsand the final even the most knowledgeable of followers of walking found it bewildering to appreciate what was happening.

The controversies that resulted from this incident ridden event led Olympic officials to drop the 10,000m walk from the program andreplace it with a 20km contest in 1956.

With the historical context set, let’s zoom on on Roland. Most of the following biography is taken from an article written byDerbyshire author Tom Bates (see article at http://www.northernracewalking.com/products/derbyshire-living-legend/).

Roland was born on June 11th 1926 at 42 Carlisle Street, Sheepbridge, and later attended Mary Swanwick School at Old Whittingtonwhere he excelled at woodwork and represented the school at both football and cricket. He left school during the war years andworked at the Wagon Repairs Depot at Sheepbridge. Whilst playing centre-half in the local football league with Newbold Y.C. hissporting prowess was noted by soccer manager Teddy Davison, who promptly signed him for Sheffield United. Eighteen months laterNational Service put paid to his burgeoning soccer career and he served in the Royal Artillery for two years, first in Northern Irelandand later at Royston in Hertfordshire, on the Searchlight Battery.

After his demobilisation he became a fitter at the Summit Works on Whittington Moor and took up walking on the recommendationof Ernest Clay who invited him to train with Sheffield United Harriers. His first competitive race was the 1949 Sheffield Star Walk -which he won, setting a new record and beating the old (1947) record by 53 seconds! In fact, he regarded this first ‘win’ as his mostcherished memory. To quote Tom Bates

That boyish grin lit up his face; "Well, meeting the Queen was the high point, I suppose, I was presented to Her Majesty by LordBurleigh, along with the rest of the British Olmpic Team in 1953" he said, he mused a moment, and then "but what I rememberbest of all, and cherish most is the Star Walk, coming over the hill at Sheffield Lane Top in sight of the finish and suddenly - a seaof faces, hundreds and hundreds of people cheering - and my mother and father and all the family waiting at the finishing lineoutside the Star offices and waving me towards the line". His face beamed as he re-lived the moment, before adding wistfully, "Iwas ever so pleased because they were there to see me and I made them feel so proud ".

The win was commemmorated by this cartoon in the local Star Newspaper by Heap

1949 – Hardy wins the Sheffield Star Walk

A sporting phenomenon named Roland Hardy had arrived, and his rise up the ranks was meteoric. He was peerless, winning racesand breaking records wherever he went and within eighteen months of his Star Walk triumph he was representing Great Britain at theEuropean Championships in Brussels.

In July 1950, at the tender young age of 22, he won his first British Championship in the 7 Miles Walk, in the process breaking HarryChurcher's 5 Miles world record by 9 seconds! A week later, he won the A.A.A. 2 Miles Walk Championship. He repeated thisdouble again in 1951 and again in 1952.

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In his 1952 double (winning the 2 Miles walk on the Saturday and the 7 Miles walk on the Sunday), he brought the first ever nationaltitle home to the newly formed Derbyshire AAA. His 7 Miles Walk win saw him smash four of his own records; he broke the Britishall-comers, National, and English native records and knocked a further 9 seconds off his own World 5 Miles record.

The rest, as they say, is history - and the stuff of legend; two Olympic Games and a string of representative honours followed, andthough Roland was "never been one for keeping records", he recalled being made a Life Member of Sheffield United Harriers andthat he continued walking competitively - "and for fun" - until he was in his forties.

Of course in those early days of television, outside broadcasts were almost unheard of and champion sportsmen, especially of theamateur variety, were largely anonymous. In fact, it was not until Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile barrier in 1954 that thenation became gradually switched-on to outside broadcast athletics - though it was another decade before viewers were able to watchInternational Athletics events like European Championships and the Olympic Games with any degree of regularity. These days allmajor athletics events are beamed via satellite to television sets in homes all over the world, and in the lucrative commercialtelevision market sports sponsorship is big business. Champion athletes are household names; our sporting heroes are honoured bywealth and celebrity.

We live in an age when our champions are fully professional, most with their own professional entourage of physiotherapists,trainers, dieticians and a whole host of technical products designed to aid fitness and thus enhance performance. The sporting stakesand rewards have never been so high. Things were very different fifty years ago during that austere period just after the second-worldwar when ration books still ruled and petrol was purchased by coupons.

Roland, third eldest of a family of eight children, had to train himself - aided by his brother Walter on a bicycle - buy his own kit, payhis own expenses, and exist on a spartan diet controlled by the government ration book. He was a familiar sight pounding the roadsaround the Whittington area and as a schoolboy Tom Bates remembers joining others who ran alongside him and cheered him on ashis familiar figure strode swiftly down Sheffield Road in hot pursuit of his brother's pace-making bicycle. When he won, there wereno television pictures to bring news of his triumphant world-record breaking exploits or to hail him as the new British Champion - hismagnificent achievement however, did manage to make page ten of the local (Derbyshire Times) newspaper!

Four years later, on August 17th 1956 he finally made the front page when the headline proclaimed "Roland Hardy Selected forOlympic Team". It went on, "Roland Hardy of Sheffield Road, Whittington Moor, who earlier this year smashed two more road-walking records, is Derbyshire's only representative in the British team for the Olympic Games at Melbourne later this year."

In the 1956 Games, Roland finished a commendable eighth in the 20km walk in the Melbourne heat with 1:34:41, a completelydifferent experience from his first Olympic Games four years earlier when he had been disqualified.

He won an impressive 14 national championships between 1950 and 1956

1st A.A.A. 2 Miles Championship 1950 (13:46.8), 1951 (13:43.2) and 1952 (13:27.8)1st A.A.A. 7 Miles Championship1950 (50:11.6), 1951 (51:14.6), 1952 (50:05.6), 1953 (51:47.0) and 1955 (53:04.6)1st R.W.A. 10 Miles Championship 1952 (73:16), 1953 (74:53.4), 1954 (74:16), 1955 (74:47) and 1956 (74:31)1st R.W.A. 10 Miles Championship 1956 (2:38:27)

and his sketch is found in the inaugural RWA 1962 edition of its “TheSport of Race Walking” book

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He certainly kept his fitness for many years after he retired from serious racing in 1956. Tony Taylor reminisced on the occasion ofhis passing:

Even though a great of the Sheffield UH, he was one of my early heroes. I remember watching with awe, both Roland and LolAllen battling out a Northern 10 [probably?] in 1956/57 around the streets of Didsbury. Years later I was proud to race againsthim a couple of times in 1968, when he made a comeback to fend off Lancashire's emerging threat. In the Northern 10 at Matlockhe finished 2nd to the new star, Jake Warhurst in 74:44.

I finish this piece with some additional insights by Tom Bates.

I learned that his family, and particularly his parents were his motivation."Of course, I wanted to win - no athlete likes to bebeaten,” explained Roland, “but I never wanted anything out of it, not for myself anyway. I never wanted any fame or glory, I justwanted to win for my family - and besides, there were some good prizes to be won, canteens of cutlery and such - and times werehard.”

I began to understand the true nature of real sportsmanship and sporting endeavour, especially when I asked if I could see themany medals and trophies, certificates, British Representative Caps etc, that Roland had won over the years, and the almostinevitable scrap-book full of news cutting and photographs - but he had very little to show me. He managed to find just onemedal - from the Melbourne Olympic Games of 1956, and a couple of old photographs; typical of this extremely personable andmodest man, he had given the rest away to members of his family, including his four grandchildren, each of whom he adores andwho, no doubt, are justifiably proud of their legendary grandfather.

I thanked him for showing them to me and for being such a gracious host and then I left, satisfied that I had learned enoughduring my visit to write a special tribute to a local living legend, a man I had long since respected and admired, and my lastingimpression of Roland Hardy is of a somewhat shy, modest and retiring 78 year-old widower who in every way proved to be thetrue sporting gentleman that I had always believed him to be.

2016 marks the passing of one our racewalk legends. Long may his memory linger with us.

Tim EricksonMonday 26 September 2016 References:http://www.northernracewalking.com/products/derbyshire-living-legend/ http://www.englandathletics.org/england-athletics-news/double-olympian-roland-hardy-19---2016 http://www.sheffieldhistory.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/319-the-star-walk/

DATES…DATES…DATES

As usual, I finish with a list of upcoming events on the local, national and international fronts. Let me know of any errors/omissions. 2016 Remaining International DatesSun 23 Oct, 2016 2016 Hong Kong MTR Racewalking Carnival, Hong Kong (10km)

See http://www.hkaaa.com/en/comp_details.php?id=78)Oct 26 -Nov 6, 2016 21st World Masters T&F Champs Stadia, Perth, Australia. See http://www.perth2016.com

Online entries close August 25th. No late entries accepted.

2016/2017 Australian/Victorian Key Dates Oct 8 (Sat), 2016 AV Shield commences (Round 1), MelbourneNov 4-8, 2016 Victorian Schools T&F Championships, Albert ParkDec 2-4, 2016 Australian Schools T&F Championships, Canberra, ACTDec 11 (Sun), 2016 Australian 50km Championship, Fawkner Park, MelbourneJan 26-28, 2017 Victorian Country Track & Field Championships, Casey Fields, CaseyFeb 19 (Sun), 2017 Australian 20km Summer Roadwalk Championships, AdelaideFeb 24-26, 2017 Victorian Junior and Open Track & Field Championships (Weekend 1), Albert ParkMar 3-5, 2017 Victorian Junior and Open Track & Field Championships (Weekend 2), Albert ParkMar 7, 2017 Coburg 6 Hour Run/Walk Championships, Coburg, VICMar 25-26, 2017 Victorian Masters Championships , DoncasterMar 26 - Apr 2, 2017 Australian Open and Junior T&F Champs, SOPAC, SydneyApr 22-23, 2017 Australian Centurions 24 Hour Championships, Coburg, VICJun 9-12, 2017 Australian Masters T&F Championships, Darwin, NTJun 11, 2017 51st LBG Racewalking Carnival, Canberra, ACT

2017 International DatesMar 18-25, 2017 World Masters Athletics Indoor Championships, Daegu South Korea

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April 8, 2017 Podebrady Race Walk Meet, CZE. See http://www.podebrady-walking.cz/en/ April 21-30, 2017 World Masters Games 2017, Auckland, NZ. See www.worldmastersgames2017.co.nz April 23, 2017 Naumburg Racewalking Carnival, GERMay 21, 2017 European Race Walking Cup, Podebrady, CZEJuly 12-16, 2017 10th World Youth T&F Championships, Niarobi, Kenya – THIS IS THE FINAL EDITIONAugust 5-13, 2017 16th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, London, UK. See http://www.london2017athletics.com/. August 19-30, 2017 29th Summer Universiade, Taipei, Taiwan

Apr 4-15, 2018 XXI Commonwealth Games, Gold Coast, QLD (racewalks on the program). See http://www.gc2018.com May 2018 28th IAAF World Race Walking Team Championships, TBA (It has been taken away from Cheboksary)July 2018 16th World Junior T&F Championships, Tampere, FinlandTBA, 2018 22nd World Masters Athletics T&F Championships, Malaga, Spain2019 17th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Doha, QatarJuly 2019 30th Summer Universiade, Brasilia, Brazil July 2020 32nd Olympic Games, Tokyo Aug 2021 18th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, Eugene, USAJuly 18-30, 2022 XXII Commonwealth Games, Durban, South Africa

Tim Erickson, Secretary, VRWC, terick@melbpc.org.au Home: 03 93235978 Mob: 0412 257 496 Copies of recent newsletters are kept on the VRWC website (http://www.vrwc.org.au)

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